Tagged - a book meme

Elizabeth Baines tagged me with this book-ish meme:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

OK, so here goes:
1. Nearest book is A L Kennedy's Now That You're Back, a fabulous short story collection which I only just began reading after meeting AL Kennedy at Jewish Book Week, where she interviewed Shalom Auslander.

2. Page 123 is in the middle of a story I haven't read yet, called The Mouseboks Family Dictionary. This is a page of rather long sentences. ok, here goes:

Mouseboks Family Brothers never dress in cardigans and waistcoats, do not smoke pipes, or love small children and pets, nor do their Uncles have pockets inexhaustibly filled with fresh boiled sweets, chocolates and peppermints, nor do their Cousins have any discernible loving, altruistic or even minimally human qualities.

Mouseboks Family Menfolk smoke poisonous and illegal roll-ups, dress as they would have been afraid to when they were twenty years younger, cannot be trusted with any young person, or any older person, or any pet of any sex, will borrow and steal money, drink, medicines, pets, spouses and any likely-looking ornaments nad will urinate indiscriminately both indoors and out, blaming any resultant distress on whatever small children.pets or passing strangers are available. See Anticipation, Lust, Murder, Sex, Money, What you Deserve.

I defy anyone not to want to read the rest of the story after that! I will be doing so this weekend, thanks EB for the tag!

I tag Women Rule Writer, ASalted, Crawl Space, Writing-at-the-Window
and Runaway Granny.

Sleeping, reading and writing

I'm suffering from insomnia right now, for the last few days I have been falling asleep around 3am, 5am, that kind of thing. It's no fun. It happens every now and then, seemingly unrelated to coffee intake or stress or anything I can put my finger on. Maybe I should enjoy the night hours and use the time for writing, but I'm not really awake enough, although not asleep enough either. Annoying. I hope it will pass, because it is causing me to miss my writing group meeting early tomorrow morning... I figured that there is little chance of my sleeping returning to normal tonight so that I can get up at 7.30 am (very unusual for me, if you know me well!) to make it to Tel Aviv by 10am. Shame. I was so looking forward to it. This is the small, intimate group of four of us, and the other three all had babies in the last 18 months so we haven't managed many get-togethers. And, with all their night-time feeding disruptions, it's me that ends up cancelling! Ironic, eh?

Anyhow, on a more positive note, I am continuing to be inspired by reading other people's stories and watching how they influence my own writing in terms of somehow giving me "permission" to do things in a different way. This happened with Roy Kesey's All Over (see my review here) which freed me from my need to explain and describe.

And now I am reading Paddy O'Reilly's wonderful collection, The End of the World, and I believe this has directly contributed to me finishing (can it ever really be finished??) a story I have been struggling with for over a year. Inspired by her final story, which is a set of very short pieces, I tried this with my story, giving sub-headings to the tiny sections, and suddenly it felt like it came together. And then I was able to write the end.

We will see. I need to let it lie now, let my writing groups take a crack at it. In a week, or a month, I may decide I hate it. But right now it's my new baby, it's beautiful and I love it. I'm blind to its faults, it can do no wrong. Thank goodness for the cool, critical eye of others!

A cupcake break

This has absolutely nothing to do with writing but I had to share it with you because keeping it to myself is killing me. It's Passover, that time of year (a week) of no bread, nothing made with flour that has risen at all. Only matza. This:
But.... I stumbled upon the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog a few weeks ago, and it just has me hooked. The pictures, ohmygod. Frankly, it's porn.

(Photo from ChefLillian.com)

(photo by Flickr user mumof3girls)

See what I mean?


For all those of us who are cupcake-less this week, they even featured special Passover cupcakes. Go on... have a look. They put up several blog posts a day, with more pictures, and more pictures. I just can't stop. I may need help.

Two requests

I have had two types of request in the past few weeks that I think are worth mentioning. The first was a rewrite request - actually 4 rewrite requests - from two lit mags, one of which was interested in three of my flash stories, and the second was interesting in a fourth story. I want to bring this up following on from my unpleasant experience of a few months ago. That blog post may have given some readers the impression that I don't want anyone "messing" with my stories, that I believe that my precious creations are perfect and if they are accepted for publication then they are untouchable.

This couldn't be further from the truth.

I was delighted to receive the rewrite requests, three of which were specifically about the endings of these stories, all under 500 words. They liked the stories enough not to reject them, but they felt something wasn't quite working. And all the points that these two editors made were, in my opinion, spot on. Totally valid. I find it hard to edit flash stories, which are generally written in one sitting, a different process from writing a longer story. But the endings were weak. And in one case, I had overwritten, said the editor: the reader already knows this, no need to recap at the end.

It took me a little while to sit down and get back into the headspace of each story, and redo the endings. But after I did, I saw that they were better stories. I am delighted that the first of the three, Dots, has now been accepted for publication by Juice: A Journal of the Ordinary.


I am waiting to hear back from the editor who is reading the other two stories. The fourth rewrite request referred to something that for me is much more integral to the story, and I am still contemplating making this kind of change.

For me, these are excellent illustrations of the ideal editor-writer relationship. I am so happy when an editor engages with my writing, thinks about it deeply, as these two editors have obviously done, and makes suggestions that they believe could make it better. This is something no writer can do without.

The other request is a first for me: I have been asked to judge a flash fiction competition. It is for writers belonging to the Critters Bar online forum. It is such an honour to be asked. And it has been an unexpected validation for me, too. When the announcement was made that I was the judge, with a short description of my writing and a link to my website, several of the forum members made comments to the effect of "Wow," and "Impressive". That was a real boost. It's all to easy to forget how far I have come, to dismiss achievements and to only focus on what is ahead, what I haven't done. It's wonderful to be reminded every now and then that I have already come some way down this path. I look forward to reading all the entries and trying to pick just one.

Under the weather, reading

I'm not feeling so great today, as the temperature climbs ( we are in sharav season - a scorchingly hot, dry desert wind which blows from the Arabian Desert - which means it's getting hot hot hot), my body is refusing to cope. Lethargy has taken hold, and a rather unpleasant dry cough. I was trying so hard to stay well and not to pick up every germ going. Two months isn't so bad, I guess. My head is too foggy to do much but play Scrabulous and surf the web.

However, the post just came, and with it some very welcome new reading material to cheer me up:

First, Mslexia (which always has the same smell, has anyone else noticed?), the magazine for women who write. While I loved this mag when it began, I have been pretty disappointed with their fiction selections and, frankly, do now wonder if "women who write" need their own magazine? Perhaps some of the WWW could comment here and let me know. I used to find their listings, calls for submissions and contests invaluable, but with the wonder of the inter-web, with their quarterly publication schedule they seem out of date, to say the least. For WHW who aren't web-connected, this is great (I know at least one WWW who still refuses to become webified, so there is a market). Anyhow, not holding out great hopes for the fiction, or the article on How to Write a Bestseller, but the nice news is that they have reviewed Vanessa's collection, Words from a Glass Bubble, and it is a lovely review, congrats V!

On to slightly more exciting and uncharted waters. Having reviewed the Logorrhea anthology for The Short Review in which most of the writers write science fiction, and now reading Kelley Eskridge's wonderful Dangerous Spaces, described to me as "feminist science fiction", for the next issue, my eyes have been opened to the genre, which is not at all what I thought (a cross between Star Trek, Star Wars and a bit of Buffy). It seems that today's science fiction is not necessarily set on alternate worlds but in our world with a twist. And it seemed to me that this is what I often do in my stories, something akin to magical realism. So, I thought I should take a look at some sci-fi/speculative lit mags and see if there is a place for me.

Two arrived this morning:

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (which wins the prize for Best Lit Mag Name Ever): it is not so impressive on first glance, seemingly photocopied. Yet the openings of some of the ten short stories are very intriguing:

The new sickness. I stopped being able to sleep.

The curmudgeon's face was not immediately visible as I stepped outside to embrace the still autumn air.

It is Christmas Eve. Rain rushes black down black walls.

No aliens, spaceships, wierd life forms...yet. And an article on New Wave and Speculative fiction in Japan. I will keep you posted.

Sybil's Garage is the second mag. This one is glossy, fabulous colour cover, mouth-watering. Also intriguing first lines:

The night is a blackbird and it lives on Gemma's arm.

Third grade was the winter that Nicholas' little sister died and that Audrey first decided to bring her back from the dead.

Noff sat last and alone, thinking on sidebars and footnotes as the text of her life threatened to overwhelm her.

I must say, I am excited about diving in to the unknown in these two magazines. None of the writers' names are familiar to me. A whole new world. How thrilling.

Better way to buy books

(Cross-posted on the Short Review blog)


Following on from a previous post about how we're not in the new-book-selling business at The Short Review, here's the ideal solution: Better World Books.

We love literacy programs like Room to Read, Books for Africa , Worldfund, National Center for Family Literacy , and our 70 other literacy partners. They provide the building blocks for children and families to learn, grow, and share in the vast collection of human knowledge committed to paper. It just makes sense that a bookstore ought to generate funding for these programs. BetterWorld.com does that with every book we sell.

Better World Books has been called the "Eco Amazon": what they do is simple. They accept books from libraries and then they sell them online, shipping them anywhere in the world. " So far, we've kept over 5 million pounds of books out of landfills," says BWB. They also have a Carbon Neutral shopping cart: "We collect a few cents from every customer at checkout. The proceeds from this carbon offset are enough to purchase renewable energy credits and support reforestation. We not only offset our shipping, but also the shipping of our literacy partners. And since we sell a lot of books, that is enough to keep tons of carbon out of the atmosphere."

What more could you ask for? Their online shop is here.

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To be alone

Those of you reading this who are writers will probably be amazed at what I have to say. In some ways I am amazed I got this far without one. What don't I have?

A door.

A door to my study. A door that I can shut so I can lose myself with my characters.

Nope. We are very open-plan over here. And it has finally got to me. I can't do it. How can I be expected to? It's not J's fault.... I should have done this a long time ago. I should have stated a long time ago that I Just Want To Be Alone. Alone to immerse myself in my stories. Alone so that I can hear my characters tell me what happens next. Alone in my fictional world.

So. There. I've said it. And I am doing something about it. Hopefully very soon, I will have that Room Of My Own With Door. Not too far from our home. Close enough to walk to, but far enough so that I can shut myself away. Not all the time. Not all day, every day. But I am working. Writing is my work, and I need the right place to do it and the time, too. I have reached the point where I want to be treated as if I have a 9-5 job, same as everyone else. (Ok, 10.30-5, more likely).

No-one could be expected to guess this, of course. It's up to me to state my position and make sure my needs are met. A writer friend recently wrote that she is in "novel purdah", and I thought, How heavenly. I don't want to abandon all friendships, all socializing. But since my time in the quiet of Tuscany, I know what works best. So I ask - don't expect me to answer a phone, emails, the doorbell, during the day. I'm at work. Writer is Working. Ahhh, that sounds good. The sound of a door closing and a world opening up.

The Short Review Issue 6 has arrived: erotica, wolves, ray bradbury and a little history

I am delighted to announce the timely arrival of The Short Review Issue 6, April 2008.

This little bundle of joy contains ten new reviews of short story collections, including two firsts: our first erotica review (Best of Best American Erotica), and our first historical fiction collection (S. Yizhar), some classic sci fi and fantasy (Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin), debut collections from Ireland, the US, Australia (Patrick Chapman, Susan DiPlacido, Karen Russell, Sylvia Petter), a dash of horror (Heather Beck), some tongue-twisting words (Logorrhea), ... and much more.


We've also got author interviews with Patrick Chapman

I'm writing a novel, now in its final draft (so far), which I've been doing for the last five years or so. It's a romantic comedy about suicide.

Sylvia Petter

I write stories in response to whatever moves or ignites me. I’m a bit all over the place in that respect.

Susan DiPlacido

I wanted a good mix of erotic and non-erotic and some pulpy things to represent all the genres I really enjoy writing -- and reading.

and Heather Beck

It’s a sublime feeling to know that what I created is coming to life for others. I am thrilled if even one person reads my work and enjoys it (but don’t tell my publisher that)

If you missed our first 5 issues, check out the fifty reviews we've already published, by book title, author, category. Pop in and find something to read.

Words and pictures, voices and silence

So, finally, here are a few details about my recent gallivanting around the world. Well, England first. A wonderful time with my great writing friend Vanessa, who, the minute I arrived at her place an hour outside London informed me we were going back to London the next day to check out the venue for her immminent book launch. We had a great day, a private tour of the Foundling Museum, tea in a posh London hotel, drinks with another writer, B, and then back home to peaceful Sussex. Sadly, the photos of it all were on my mobile phone, which was stolen several days later, so you'll have to imagine it for yourselves.

Back to London, and I had a great time at Jewish Book Week with Jacqueline, listening to Shalom Auslander being interviewed by A L Kennedy. His book is Foreskin's Lament, a memoir of how his life was totally screwed up by a bizarre version of Orthodox Judaism in the town in the US where he grew up.



He was astonishingly candid, it was a disturbing event, but fascinating, perhaps in the same way that passing drivers are fascinated by a car crash. On a more positive note, I had a quick chat with A L Kennedy about The Short Review and, fingers crossed, will be interviewing her when her next collection comes out later this year!

Then it was off to Ireland to stay with my Dad and my stepmother, Carole. The usual glorious Irish weather - rainy, windy, very green everywhere.






See what I mean about the weather? I wasn't there to sunbathe, anyhow. A lovely afternoon was spent with Dad at the ridiculously expensive Inchydoney Lodge & Spa hotel, sitting in the lounge in front of a roaring fire, doing the Times crossword, and looking out over stormy seas.

Then to Bristol, a night with another great writing friend, Louise. She brought me along as guest to her writing group, which was lovely, a very warm and welcoming bunch of people. I gave them a little talk about The Short Review and about my book, how it came about etc...And then, as is tradition, we all went to the pub. The next day, Louise and I headed down to Exeter for the launch of the second issue of Riptide magazine. Coffee first with the editors, Ginny and Sally, writers and poets themselves, and Luke Kennard, Salt poet and author of wonderfully wack short stories. The launch was held in Exeter library, complete with a live band.



Sally and Ginny introduce the evening.


Me, reading from North Cold

Eight of us read the beginnings of our stories. I read from North Cold. This was my first proper reading, and it was pretty nerve-wracking (ask poor Louise, who had to keep me calm beforehand). I am going to have to get used to it, though. All the stories read that evening were excellent, very different, highly imaginative, and beautifully read by the authors. I was extremely impressed. If you want a great read, buy a copy of Issue 2 - it's really more of a short story anthology than a lit mag.

Back to London, and the highlight of the end of my trip was the launch of Vanessa's short story collection, Words from A Glass Bubble. The Foundling Museum was packed with friends, family and many of us from the Fiction Workhouse, and Vanessa, who is very proficient at reading her stories, read the title story, in three parts, throughout the evening.


Vanessa reading

I had a wonderful time, taking notes re my own launch (which won't be anything like this, the Foundling Museum is an exceptional place), mingling with writers, some of whom I knew only online.


Elaine, Susannah, Mel and Elizabeth

The next day, I flew to Italy, and romantically met up with James by the baggage carousels in Rome Airport. We headed off to Tuscany for a peaceful week free from cellphones and Internet, an hour's walk from the nearest town, in the gorgeous guest accomodation at La Mandria run by Paul and Renee, who couldn't have been more welcoming. And The Little Herbert, too.

Here are some pictures. Imagine: complete silence, just the rushing of the river in the valley below, and the odd birdsong. Heavenly.








The Little Herbert, who kept us company




(Yes, I did some work!)





What was the most wonderful aspect was that without telephone, Internet, email, I discovered that the stories just started flowing. I could hear my own voice again - and my characters' voices - because nothing was drowning them out. I could walk round with stories in my head, sit and think about them, give them the time and space to develop. I ended one story that had been a little problematic, began another story, started adapting a short story into a play. It was a very productive week. For an eco-perspective, James has blogged about our week on Green Prophet here.

Now that we are home and back into the normal chaos of everyday life, I am trying to preserve some of that inner quiet. For the time being, I have withdrawn from all the online writing groups I was a member of. I love the sense of community they provide, and that wonderful solidarity, the mutual commiseration over rejection and celebration of story acceptance etc... Sharing work is a vital part of being a writer, for me. But the first step must be the writing. And I wasn't writing. Writing has to come before all else - otherwise how am I a writer? So, for the moment, I am focussing on myself and my writing, knowing that when my book comes out in June, that will all probably be put to one side. For the next few months, though, I just want to listen to my characters and see where they take me.

Flash acceptances

Photos of trip coming soon... but in the meantime, some nice news. I have just had three flash stories accepted by the wild and wacky Mad Hatter's Review. And they also want me to record audio versions, which I am thrilled about. I'll have to dust off my acting skills. So, in the next few months, three flashes in Mad Hatter's, two in SouthWord, three in the Ranfurly Review and one in Greatest Uncommon Denominator (which actually pays). Not bad, and great for the flash collection I am assembling.

Another positive aspect is that all of these flash stories ( all under 750 words in length, some much shorter) are very weird indeed, written in my writing group or during the 24-hour flash marathons on the Fiction Workhouse, an uninhibited and wondrous way to let the imagination roam free. I thought of most of these stories - which you could call surreal, magical realism, irreal, speculative fiction, even science fiction - as my odd-looking babies, that only I could love. I never imagined they would find a home, let alone 4 homes. Just shows you that there is always someone out there just as weird - or weirder - than you are. Thank the Lord for that.

BBC NEWS Healthier hearts' for cat owners

I am preparing a lengthy blog about my recent travels around and about - England, Ireland, Italy - but while I wait for the pictures to come back (no, no digital camera) I just had to draw your attention to this:

Healthier hearts' for cat owners

Cat owners appear to have a much lower risk of dying from a heart attack than their feline-spurning counterparts, a study suggests.Researchers looked at nearly 4,500 adults and found that cat ownership was related to a 40% lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.The team speculated that having a cat may reduce stress and anxiety, and so protect against cardiovascular disease.

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Healthier hearts' for cat owners

I knew there was a reason we let our lives be controlled by our two terrors, Zac and Cleo. Maybe having two means that we will never die at all? I'll let you know.

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Salt wins Innovation award

I am delighted that my publishers, the fabulous Salt Publishing, have won the Nielsen Innovation of the Year award at the 2008 Independent Publishing Awards:

NIELSEN INNOVATION OF THE YEAR-SALT PUBLISHING
Salt Publishing received the Nielsen Innovation of the Year award for its imaginative efforts to increase sales of collections of poetry and short stories despite very challenging market conditions. It impressed with its range of web-based marketing initiatives and partnerships and energetic development of its brand. "Salt is bucking the trend in poetry by growing its sales," said the judges. "Its innovation in lots of small ways adds up to a major achievement."

What wonderful recognition of the amazing job Jen and Chris Hamilton-Emery are doing. They are championing the short story when few "mainstream" publishers will do so, and though their operation is small, their beautifully-designed books - poetry and short stories - are in major bookshops and are constantly being shortlisted for awards. I must also say that, on a personal note, they treat their writers with great care and respect and I am delighted to be among that number.

Well done, Salt!

Well done also to the other winners - click here for more info.

The Millions' Favourite short story collections & Flash stories on cell-phones

(Cross-posted with The Short Review blog)

Book blog, The Millions, just held a Short Story Week. At the conclusion of the week they published their 45 favourite short story collections. The list includes quite a few titles that are new to me. Wonderful to see Aimee Bender, Lorrie Moore, George Saunders and Diane Williams on that list, some of my personal favourites. The ones reviewed on The Short Review are:

* The Collected Stories by Katherine Mansfield
* Self-Help, by Lorrie Moore

So we have at least another 43 we should be reviewing, it seems.

The Millions also has a fascinating interview with short short story writer Barry Yourgrau whose book "Keitai Stories," a collection of flash stories, was released for cell phones by a prominent Japanese publishing house, before making the transition to print.

The Millions: You've been writing short stories for cell phones in Japan. When did you start? How did you come up with the idea?

BY: Got the idea when visiting In Tokyo for the first time in 2002, I saw kids surfing the Internet on cell phones (keitai). I thought my stories, which are generally very short, would be just right for cell-phone reading. Especially if I made 'em even briefer. (Which is an interesting exercise: as Woody Allen says somewhere, a general note to improve any comic writing is, Make It Shorter.)

Seems to be an excellent strategy - 100,000 readers accessed the stories online. What a great thing for the short - and short short - story!

Keep drinking the coffee & buying books

I haven't posted for a while because I have been travelling but now I am settled for a few days and so I thought I would post a quick update. First, it is my opinion, given recent experience, that giving up coffee is a bad idea. I drink one cup a day, real coffee, none of that instant stuff. Last week I decided that perhaps it was affecting my sleep and so I stopped drinking it. On Coffee-Free Day Two I was due to fly to Ireland and a) I got the flight time wrong and nearly missed the flight and b) left my mobile phone on the train to the airport. I would like to point out that I never, ever do either of these things. I am normally very careful to check the flight times and to make sure I haven't dropped anything when getting off public transport. I blame it on the coffee withdrawal. I was too calm. See what happens?

Ok, back to writing talk. Whether it was the coffee or lack of it, I have recovered surprisingly fast from failing to get anywhere either with the Fish short story prize or the new Flosca short story competition. A year ago, I would have moped around, dejected, for days, wondering where I went wrong. Now, I was a little disappointed for an hour or so and then, poof, all gone. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that my book is coming out in 3 months (3 months!!). Nothing can really top the news that someone wants to publish your book. That's really it as far as highs go. Also, ever since the rather unpleasant experience a few weeks ago with the lit mag that I won't go into again, something has switched inside me. It's hard to describe exactly but it is something to do with power, and realizing that I actually have some. I don't have to wait to be "chosen", I don't have to accept publication on any terms, I can initiate my own projects. I did it with The Short Review, and now I have the beginnings of an idea for an anthology, and what's to stop me from just doing it? This is quite a turning point - moving from handing my fate to others to grabbing it back and forging my own path. Some might call it maturity. I don't know what to call it, but it sure feels good.

On that note, my great friend Vanessa's short story collection, Words from A Glass Bubble, is now available from all good book shops!



It's a stunning collection of stories, beautiful and tragic, inspiring and illuminating. I already have my copy. Get it now! Click here for more details.

Can't write, won't write

I can't write today. Nothing. Not a word. I don't think it has anything to do with the unpleasant episode of last week, because thankfully and with exquisite timing it was followed swiftly by the acceptances of four of my flash stories by two different magazines. And when, due to previously mentioned unpleasant episode, I wrote back to make sure I would be able to see the final versions of the stories before being printed or put up on the web, both editors were so understanding (one, the delightful Colin of the Ranfurly Review, making my week by saying that "no, I won't be altering your work. It's too fine to tamper with. :-)") that I immediately realized that what had happened to me was, thankfully, an aberration. That most literary magazines have an ethical code that dictates that a writer will always be asked for approval of edits.

I want to be clear here: I am not saying that my work is untouchable, perfect. I am not saying that it does not need editing, would not benefit from editing. I have had some amazing editors who have suggested edits that most definitely improved the stories. And I have welcomed - and do welcome - this wholeheartedly. But it is, as someone mentioned in a comment below, a partnership, writer and editor together.

Ok, enough. I am trying to put this behind me. But, nevertheless, I can't write right now. I don't get writer's block. Never have. It's just laziness, really. Laziness and Scrabulous. Or the weather - a storm is whipping up outside my window. Or the lack of chocolate. Or many many reasons. Not all beyond my control. So I should pull myself together. I should. OK. I am going to. Yes I am. Here I go. Bye. I'm going now.

Follow-up: Writers' rights?

Following up on my previous post, the first thing is that I discovered that another writer had a similar experience with this publication, so it does seem to be their policy to "copy edit" without sending a writer any proofs or galleys before publication.

I received a private message in response to my blog post from an experienced writer and editor who told me that in fact I am in the wrong, that the journal once I have agreed to publication and despite the fact that I signed no contract, can do what it wants to my story. She suggested I take down my blog post, and apologize to the editors in question.

I decided that I had to look into this further. Can this be the case? And, if so, how many writers know this? If this is the case, why do so many decent and reputable literary magazines send writers proofs to approve if they don't have to? Purely out of respect, not of duty?

I posted queries on all my online writing groups... and of these hundreds of writers, the majority of whom have had many stories published, no-one knew the legal situation, our legal situation. I received another, very lovely, email from another highly experienced writer, artist and editor, who unfortunately said that she too believes that the magazine can do whatever they want to a story once accepted for publication.

Where are the lawyers? I thought to myself. I don't often say this, but we need to hear from a lawyer.

And, as if by magic, here is a lawyer, posting in response to my query, to say:

They absolutely do not have the right to change your work without your permission. When I was a first-year law student we read an appellate decision about a case brought by Monty Python against a tv network. The tv network had acquired the rights to broadcast some Monty Python footage, then "edited" the footage in significant ways without even telling Monty Python in advance. The network was liable for damages, because they had altered the work without the author's consent. Don't remember if it was a copyright violation, tort, breach of contract, or what, but the bottom line is they can't do that.

The actual case is here. And it says:

Although American copyright law did not recognize a cause of action for violation of artists' moral rights, the Lanham Act protected against mutilation of artistic works as a false designation of origin of goods.

My questions now are: does this apply across the Arts? And outside the US? And how is "mutilation" defined?

If anyone can clarify this situation, please post a comment here. If I know that a magazine has the right to "mutilate" my work, I will stop submitting anywhere. And I would really rather that wasn't the case!

A cautionary tale for all writers

The following is a cautionary tale for all writers, a true story that I hope, without naming names, will serve as a warning to all of us who trust editors with our words and expect them to handle our writing with the same care and attention that we do.

A new print magazine accepted two of my (250 word) flash stories for its second issue, due out in late Feb. There was no contract that I signed, only an invoice for payment. The only correspondence from them said:

I am pleased to inform you that your story xxx, has been short listed for the second issue of @&*T. Could you please send us your story with final edits in our house style (details attached) as soon as possible but no later than Friday 21st December. We also need a biography of no longer than 100 words.

What should a (perhaps naive) writer assume in all good faith? That when they have put in the paragraph breaks that the house style demands (which, in my mind, already alters the piece slightly), that this is EXACTLY how the story will appear - given the words "final edits".

I was then invited to the launch party and when they heard I was planning to come from Israel, they asked me to read both flashes at the launch. I was delighted.

Then, yesterday, having heard nothing from them since I did as they asked, in late December, I receive this email:

Hi Tania,

This is just to let you have the copy-edited version
of xxx for the launch reading.

Can't copy and paste from the PDF, so here is the
whole second issue!

See you soon,

So, thinking that perhaps they added a few commas, I open the PDF.... and discover to my total HORROR that they have:

a) Changed the TENSE of the story from Past and Present to all Past tense
b) Removed a word from the second sentence, replacing it with another with a different meaning
c) Broken one sentence up into two sentences, thus changing the rhythm entirely.
c) Deleted a whole phrase.

ALL THIS WITHOUT ASKING FOR MY APPROVAL.

I was so stunned I couldn't speak. I felt sick. I thought, Wait a while, maybe you will discover that they improved it. Then I decided, since I was supposed to be reading this at the launch event, to read both versions out to J.

I read MY version.

Great.

Then I started to read THEIR version. And I stopped. I couldn't. I got to the part where they chopped one sentence in two, and it was completely different. I nearly cried.

OK, so, without getting angry, I enquire politely if it is too late to undo certain changes because I feel they significantly changed the story. This is the (cheery) reply:

Sorry Tania it is too late!
You might like to add the missing line in performance
but 'xxx yyy makes it sound sentimental and detracts from it, I think.
Best

Note the "!" as if this is FUNNY!

And a follow up email from her, as if this wasn't enough:

Hi Tania,
Just to add that it was either copy-edit or no
publication. The copy editor was very ambivalent
about xxx and I had to fight for it!
I do believe though that the edit sharpened it.
All the Best

So, after accepting my story, I am supposed to thank the Editor for fighting for it with the copy editor (who seems to wield disproportionate power here) and be extremely grateful that it is published at all, despite the fact that it is now a completely different story, with my name attached?

I call this arrogance of the highest degree.

After asking for advice from my writing forums, checking that I wasn't overreacting, I wrote a short email asking that the stories be withdrawn and stating that I did not want to be associated with a publication that behaves in such as "despicable" manner.

It is then I am informed that the magazine has been printed. And the editor (apparently an "award-winning writer" herself) is "amazed" at my "outburst". Has no idea what "despicable" behaviour I am referring to.

Unfortunately, when I post this in my writing forums, I find I am far from unique here. This has happened to so many people - with flash fiction, with poetry, short stories, even with novels! It seems as though we have been extraordinarily naive in assuming that someone who wishes to publish our work is doing it because they love our writing, our voice and our style.

What upsets me is that, firstly, this is a new magazine, setting out to create a reputation for itself, and this is how it is proceeding to do that? A literary journal, I had assumed, is founded not with any notion of profit but for sheer love of good writing and to provide a new platform for writers of fiction. Surely, then, the editor must have some feeling for what a piece of writing means to the writer? That it is not something dashed off in a quick free moment, posted in to a lit mag without much thought of what may occur. Everything I write - everything - is a piece of me. It has something of me in it. As I write this, I am getting quite emotional because that is what this is, an emotional issue.

I used to be a journalist and having articles altered by editors was a common occurrence and one that I learned not to take personally. Because it wasn't personal. I was reporting about something someone else had done. But my short stories? They are about words, sentences, paragraphs, beats, rhythms, flow. You want to change a comma? You ask me first.

The second reason this upset me is this: what if I was a beginning writer, what if this was my first publication? I might feel that I had to accept what this magazine has done. I might feel that maybe they're right, maybe the story is better. I might lose confidence in my ability to write. This kind of thing might have seriously damaged my sense of my own voice. That may sound precious, but I think it's true. Fortunately, I am experienced and confident enough to be able to protest, to demand my stories be withdrawn, to object to being made to feel grateful they are being published at all.

In the end, I went over the head of the editor to the managing editor, to see whether this was in line with the magazine's policy, to ask if this was really the way the magazine treated its writers. I received an apology, but undermined somewhat by the claim that the edits had been sent to me for approval but must have got lost in transit, so the editor "assumed" I was "okay" with them. Of course. Assume all is well, and it follows naturally that the said editor would then send me the edited version when it is too late to do anything about it, but before the launch - because the editor knows that I am totally happy with the edits, is not concerned at all that, should I see the final printed version at the launch I will notice that it isn't my story, I will react, I will make a scene. Ah yes, that makes total sense.

The managing editor agreed to my request to print an apology in the following issue. Fine. Too little too late. The damage has been done.

This is a wake-up call: do not assume any editor treasures your work. Demand to see the final edits before it is too late. Treat everyone with suspicion. I hate to write this but from my experience and those of my fellow writers everywhere, we can't be naive about this. I apologise to the publications that in the past have treated me decently, sent me proofs, asked for my approval. I didn't realize how much I should have appreciated that and not taken it for granted.

I've certainly lost my innocence. I will think twice before submitting any story to any publication. I am afraid to say that I think we all should.

Author interviews, fascinating and inspiring

(Cross posted with The Short Review blog)

I have just added a new section to The Short Review: Author Interviews. This is turning into a very popular feature on the site, and for me personally, as a writer, these interviews with authors about how they write, how they put their collections together, what they are working on now, are fascinating and illuminating. A few excerpts:

Rusty Barnes, author of the flash fiction collection Breaking it Down, says:
"I write to be read, yes — I love to be read above all things now — but I write only to please myself. I mean, I have my obsessions, my concerns, and a good sense of what's out there in the world being written, and I think what I write has a place in that world, and it's up to me to figure out ways to get it out there, to get it to readers."

Nona Caspers, author of Heavier than Air, introduced me to the concept of MA: "I love how stories use MA space, MA being a Japanese word for the space between things that seems empty but is actually full and creates harmony. The space between the individual stories also allows for that feeling of MA."

For Sarah Salway, author of Leading the Dance, knowing that people were reading her book made her feel sick "in case they didn’t like it, or thought I was ‘odd’. But now I’ve come to terms with the fact that there will always be some people who won’t like my stuff and also that I am definitely ‘odd’ ! There’s not much I can do about it, so am just happy when people tell me they’ve enjoyed and/or got something out of reading my stories."

"I used to try to write for agents, or certain readers I imagined impressing," says Claudia Smith, author of the flash collection The Sky is A Well, "and I think that got in the way. I write for the story, for what feels true to me as I am writing it. I think my work improved once I learned to do that, and it took me years to find my voice. I do workshop many of my short-shorts with an online writing group, and I know that has influenced them immensely. I have written with these writers for years, so I trust them."

There are more interviews up on the site, and more coming soon: Carys Davies, Kim Newman, Roy Kesey.... Stay tuned!

New issue of The Short Review

(Cross posted with The Short Review Blog)

Issue 4 Feb 08 of The Short Review is now available with reviews of debut collections:

Rebecca Barry's Later At the Bar - interconnected stories set in a small American town;

Comedian and writer Alexei Sayle's Barcelona Plates;

Courttia Newland's Music for the Off-Key: 12 Macabre Short Stories;

Sarah Salway's Leading the Dance from small, vibrant UK press Bluechrome;

Highly-acclaimed Irish writer Roddy Doyle's first short fiction collection, The Deportees

as well as reviews of the Norton Book of Science Fiction, the Best American Mystery Stories of 2007, David Gaffney's second collection, Aromabingo, Ali Smith's classic collection, Other Stories and Other Stories, and our Valentine's special: My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories from Chekhov to Munro, edited by Jeffrey Eugenides.

The author interviews section of the site is blossoming too, with writers talking about their collections, how they came about, how it feels to know that people are reading your book, and how they approach the writing process.

"I’m drawn to writing about life’s essential forces" says Alison MacLeod, author of Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction.

"I write for the story, for what feels true to me", says Claudia Smith, whose flash collection, The Sky is a Well, won the Rose Metal Press chapbook contest.

"I tend to write in clusters.. so there will be groups of themes" says David Gaffney, whose second collection, Aromabingo, has just been published by UK small press Salt Publishing.

"My best writing comes out of love or grief," says Nona Caspers, author of Heavier Than Air.

"For a while I was just writing for people I drank with" says Rebecca Barry, whose debut collection, Later At the Bar, our review described as "a clear-eyed look at a boozy world".

"I’ve come to terms with the fact that there will always be some people who won’t like my stuff and also that I am definitely ‘odd’ ! " says Sarah Salway, author of Leading the Dance.

Come and browse the newly added reviews and interviews, check out our list of collections forthcoming this year, and follow the links to more review sites, blogs and articles about short stories.

Happy reading!


Tania

The New Year of Writing Starts Today

I've decided to take myself in hand, because I have been drifting. I've been drifting away from my own writing, letting so many other things take over. And I don't mean editing The Short Review, because that is something I love, which involves reading short stories, reading reviews of short story collections, interviewing authors of short story collections - heaven, in other words.

No, what has been causing (or I should say, what I have been doing to cause) the drift is a building obsession with submissions. I have been spending more and more time looking for places to send stories, looking at details of competitions, sending stories off and then waiting, clicking, re-loading, emailing, to see if the results are in, to see if my story has been accepted. I keep a spreadsheet-like document to track all my submissions and also to remind myself of upcoming deadlines. But now I have been thinking of what I can write to submit to themed issues of magazines, which of my stories might be good to send to competitions...and I realised that I was trying to write FOR someone, FOR something. And I had completely lost that joyous feeling of writing just for me.

This actually has been put in perspective by the responses I have been getting by authors to my interview questions for The Short Review. Did you have a collection in mind when you were writing, I asked. And almost everyone said, No. And that's when I realised that I had lost this path.... Ever since my book deal (maybe even before) I had begun to write with specific ends in mind: publication, success. And now I can barely write at all. I write flashes for the weekly challenges in my online writing groups, but this is not supposed (for me) to be all the writing I am doing. That's mainly supposed to be something enormously fun, something that binds me to a community, and something that keeps my fingers moving.

But where are my new stories? Nowhere. I haven't written any. What have I been sending off to magazines and competitions? Old stories, older stories - Yes, the ones that will be published in my collection in June, that are guaranteed publication. Why am I still sending them out? Because I don't have anything else. And that has got to change.

So today I took myself in hand - I cancelled all subscriptions to email lists with calls for submissions, contest guidelines. I deleted my RSS feeds with more of the same. I don't want to know. Not now. I don't want anything tugging at me now except my desire to write, to get to know new characters and find out what happens to them. I have a huge headache today, don't know what it is... but I can only hope it is because my head is so full of voices that I am not listening to, whose stories want to be told, that finally they started knocking and insisting I let them out.

The New Year of writing starts now!